Pumping Hearts banish the bad memories

THE sense of puzzlement expressed by some visitors to Tynecastle on Wednesday evening at the vast outpouring of emotion which greeted Hearts' victory over Aberdeen and the securing of second place in the SPL, which brought with it a place in next season's Champions League, almost certainly failed to take into account the frustrating history of a club whose supporters are more accustomed to consoling the nearly men of Scottish football.

Under the unobtrusive command of Tommy Walker between 1954 and 1962, Hearts won seven trophies. But the loss of the league championship on the last day of the season to Kilmarnock in 1965 established a reputation for falling short. It was entirely appropriate in the Nineties, when football's fanzine culture began, that followers of Hearts should be entertained by a magazine entitled Always The Bridesmaid.

In 1986, the team built by the late Wallace Mercer, Alex MacDonald and Sandy Jardine was on the brink of winning the league and cup double when a bug kept Craig Levein out of the trip to Dens Park and weakened others who played. In the last seven minutes of the match, Albert Kidd scored his only goals of the season for Dundee to hand the title to Celtic on goal difference.

It was an action replay of the glum scene at Tynecastle 41 years ago when Kilmarnock won 2-0. Hearts scored 90 goals that season but were pipped for the title on goal average by the Ayrshire club. The following summer, Hearts successfully campaigned for goal difference to be introduced to encourage attacking football. Needless to say, had goal average been decisive in 1986, Hearts would have thwarted Celtic.

A week after that sore loss at Dens Park, Hearts went to Hampden for the Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen where a brace of goals from John Hewitt and one from Billy Stark earned Sir Alex Ferguson's side a comfortable victory. After completing 31 games without defeat, two ghoulish losses for Hearts in the space of eight days cemented a long-held reputation for shattering dreams.

Under Jim Jefferies' shrewd command, there were more disappointments when Hearts lost finals before the success story of 1998 and the Scottish Cup was brought back to Edinburgh amid ebullient scenes for the first time since 1956. Alas, the resources weren't available at that time to retain players of the calibre of Colin Cameron, David Weir, Gary Naysmith and Neil McCann. When the team broke up, the club became snared in a cycle of debt and by 2004 the board, under the mismanagement of Chris Robinson, wanted to sell Tynecastle to a housing developer and play home games at Murrayfield.

Only after Robinson eventually resigned as a director in the summer of 2005 did the opportunity arise to start afresh. What was significant about this week's clinching of a Champions League spot was the new-found conviction that at last a turning point had been reached.

If some way short of their driving best against Aberdeen and afflicted by nerves, Hearts nevertheless proved a point: namely, after peering into the abyss, that the club is again on the brink of an era of achievement.

While not yet the blushing bride, Hearts are entitled to fancy themselves as the Scottish game's maid of honour with higher hopes of walking down the aisle than anyone might have imagined before Vladimir Romanov arrived.

Now backed by the handsome financial resources of a man with little patience for players, managers and administrators who don't whistle his tune - four coaches took charge of the first team during a league campaign in which the captain, Steven Pressley, became the linchpin off the field as well as on - Hearts injected intrigue at a time when Scottish football was monopolised more by the financial clout of the Old Firm than ever before.

Perhaps the scale of Hearts' accomplishment can best be measured by remembering Rangers hadn't finished outside the top two since 1988. Hearts themselves last finished second 14 years ago while the last time the Old Firm were split by an outsider was in 1995 when Motherwell were runners-up.

Whatever people think of Romanov's methods, challenging the duopoly of Rangers and Celtic is not only good for Hearts but essential for the well-being of Scottish football.

The "house full" sign again went up at Tynecastle for the visit of Aberdeen. Of far greater significance was how overall attendances rose by 37 per cent in Gorgie to their highest level in 18 years and Hearts failed to fill every seat only twice. Their travelling support also increased by a staggering 84 per cent, with 6,000 following the team to Livingston and 5,500 to Dundee United. When season tickets for 2006-07 go on sale, supply may struggle to match demand.

Only a year or so after Hearts were fearful their support would be lost in the vast stands if they ever flitted to Murrayfield, the possibility exists of attracting a near full house in the Champions League should Manchester United or Real Madrid come calling.

With an unrivalled opportunity against Gretna to win the Scottish Cup for only the seventh time since 1874 next Saturday - not to mention a Scottish Youth Cup final against Celtic on Wednesday - the future is bright. Twenty years ago, in these columns, it was said of Hearts: "Where, not so long ago, all was stagnation and lethargy, there is now excitement and life." The sentiment is just as apt today.

Taken from the Scotsman